Environmental Protection Agency Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental Protection Agency - Assignment Example Following implementation of the Clinger-Cohen Act, the Agency did not revise procedures under Chapter 17 of the Information Resources Management (IRM) Policy Manual to have the Chief Information Officer evaluate information technology program performance (EPA Needs). There are still further problems that are brought to light in the report. First, the EPA should have dictated and required that the Chief Information Officer should have been monitoring the performance alongside the performance goals of the agency. Another problem that has come about because of the lack of monitoring is the fact that proper documentation was not utilized. This created further miscommunication: "Consequently, OEI did not know that System Sponsors did not require System Managers to completely document risks associated with system development" (EPA Needs). Therefore, there is no process of setting goals to monitor projects as they are completed, and this makes it difficult to implement any decision making strategies. In order to solve this problem, several key recommendations have been suggested in the memo. ... be made for the projects, and the agency needs to make sure that those concepts are placed into the documentation and then reviewed by the System Owners. The EPA agreed with the concepts suggested and began to take specific steps in order to resolve the issue. The EPA responded the way that it did because it understands that information technology, especially in today's increasingly technological world, is a very important part of a company's overall performance. In order to make sure the EPA continues to be successful, it does need to monitor its spending, and this is something that the EPA recognizes as a fault. Some items they have considered are as follows: "The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-106) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130 both require agency chief information officers to oversee information technology investments" (EPA Needs). Further improvements included the need for projects to develop timetables and for System Managers to complete detailed paperwork that allowed for updates on system development, as well as reviewing the projects' effectiveness and cost. The System Sponsors must also make certain that they are agreeing with or rejecting decision papers (EPA Needs). The overall lesson to learn when reviewing this case is the fact that IT operations, with today's every-increasing world dependence on technology, are very important (Six Stigma). Not using or monitoring technology effectively can hurt a company's leadership, ability to complete projects, and cost the company excessive amounts of money. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that this information is streamlined, maintained, and monitored in order to make sure that the projects are successful. As the world is changing and technology

Birthday Letters Essay Example for Free

Birthday Letters Essay In the three texts the characters that are presented as new women are also presented with a downfall, those who are presented as traditional women are seen to survive and do well. Within the three texts, Dracula, A Street Car Named Desire and Birthday Letters, the authors present the female characters within certain ways which allow us as the audience to look closely at the battle of equality between men and women and the rise of feministic views. However the battle isnt always apparent and some female characters allow themselves to be the inferior characters compared to the male characters who take on dominant roles within their relationships. Within the three texts a downfall of death is presented, this is always presented to those women who are presented as New Woman. Feminism is a movement for social, cultural, political and economic equality of men and women. It is a campaign against gender inequalities and it strives for equal rights for women. 1 Within the three texts we are presented with many female character types, A Street Car Named desire, allows its audience to compare and contrast its female characters. We are presented with Blanche who is on first appearances seen as a New woman ( A women of the late 19th century actively resisting traditional controls and seeking to fill a complete role in the world2) she lives by herself, has no male role controlling her life and makes her own decisions, however it isnt too much later that we learn a different aspect of Blanche, she becomes a character that needs a man to keep a roof over her head and food in her mouth. We are easily able to compare Blanche with her sister Stella, who is a women that presents traditional roles however some times does challenge these, Stella lives with Stanley and allow him to control her life, he tells her what to do and she takes on stereotypically traditional roles within the house. However we do see some New Woman actions within Stellas character such as when Stanley hurts her she runs away however this is then counter parted with Stella returning to Stanley. In the end it is Blanche that has the biggest downfall within the novel and we are left with the question of is this because she presents a post- feministic woman? This question can also be placed when looking at Dracula, Lucy is presented to the audience as a very sexually aware female she is also shown to have less traditional views on marriage why cant they let a girl marry three men or as many as want her and save all this trouble3, Lucy is also like Blanche presented with the biggest downfall within the novel, she is controlled by Dracula and even killed more than once. Sylvia Plath like Lucy and Blanche also are presented with death within the novel, Sylvia could be seen to have the biggest downfall of all three of the characters, it is not only physical but also a mental problem. Hughes talks of his and Sylvia Plath life journeys through his poetry and we come to understand the life style that they lived, Plaths death is central to Hughes poetry and we are able to understand the kind of women Sylvia is, she is shown as a weak women who needed her husband by her side, when he fails to do so she becomes weaker and commits suicide. However we can see the power that Plath had on Hughes due to the high impact that Sylvias suicide had on his poetry Years after your death4. Plaths downfall doesnt seem to be due to her position as a women it is presented within the opposite, she is a traditional women and this causes her problems. Dracula sees a downfall for its female characters in the way of death, Lucy is killed by a male character. Arthur Holmwood buries the stake deep in Lucys heart in order to kill the demon she has become and to return her to the state of purity and innocence he so values. The language with which Stoker describes this violent act is unmistakably sexual, and the stake is an unambiguous symbol for the penis. In this way, it is fitting that the blow comes from Lucys fianci , Arthur Holmwood. Lucy is not only being punished for being a vampire but also being available for seduction by Dracula himself, who we can recall has the power to only attack a willing victim. When Holmwood slays the demonic Lucy, he returns her to the role of a legitimate, monogamous lover, which reinvests his fianci e with her initial Victorian virtue, again degrading Lucys female role, needing a male character to take care of her to the end of her life. Lucy Westenra, is first presented to the audience as an out going, sexually aware, less traditional women. In many ways, Lucy is much like Mina Murry. She is a paragon of virtue and innocents, qualities that draw the attention of three men to her. However Lucy does differs from her friend in one key area, which makes her much of a New Women, Lucy is sexualised. Lucys physical beauty captures the attention of the three men, which is where she displays a comfort of playfulness about her desirability. This is displayed in an early letter to Mina when Lucy states why cant they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save her all this trouble. This presents the idea that Lucy has troubles that she cannot and will not meet, going against the New Women model. Stoker presents this simple, small idea of Lucys instability to a huge volume when he describes the undead Lucy as a creature of a ravenous sexual appetite. Lucy is presented as a dangerous threat to men and their self control, Lucys second death returns her to a harmless state presenting her again with purity, assuring the men that things are exactly how they are suppose to be. Lucy presents the idea of the new woman to the reader, she is also represented as a creature when she is a vampire. Dracula succeeds in transforming Lucy and becomes a vampire vixen, Van Helsings men see no other option than to kill her, in order to return her to a purer, more socially respectable state. After Lucys transformation, the men keep a careful eye on Mina, worried they will lose yet another model of Victorian womanhood to the dark side. It is here seen that Lucy is a model female until she is turned into a vampire. Late in the novel, Dracula mocks Van Helsings crew, saying, Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine. Here, the count voices a male fantasy that has existed since Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden that womens ungovernable desires leave men poised for a costly fall from grace. Women through out Dracula are shown as something that men own and something that can be used as a bargaining tool. Blanche like the female characters within Dracula is also presented as a object by Stanley when he attacks her, however when Blanche is with Mitch alone he treats her in a way that she expects as a New Woman Can I-uh-kiss you-good night? 5 with dignity and respect, this isnt however carried through out the whole novel. Blanche doesnt accept males help through out the play and tries to hide the things that she has done before, this adds to her downfall which allows her to become more and more depressed and pushing towards her downfall. Which we can also assume this happens to Plath, Hughes talks of their past and their lives together, this allows us as the audience to know what events happened to add to Plaths depression and her death. Looking at other sources we find out that Ted Hughes, had left her for another woman6which then pushes Plath to her suicide. This goes against the idea that the Downfall of woman is due to woman being post feminist woman. The three texts all see big punishment for its three leading ladies, this influences them in many ways and pushes them all towards their deaths. In the 1880s and the 1890s saw the publication of many studies in psychology and sexology. For example, Dr. Krafft-Ebing, a German sexologists medico-legal study Phychopahia Sexualis, documented hundreds of cases of divergent, deviant sexuality, listing, cataloguing and typing each individual. Under Sadism in Women, he describes case 42, a womens who sexual history prefigures that of Stokers Lucy: A married man presented himself with numerous scars of cuts on his arms. He told their origins as follows: When he wishes to approach his wife, who was young and somewhat nervous, he first had to make a cut in his arm. Then she would suck the wound, and during the act become violently excited sexually. Most critics agree that Dracula is, as much as anything else, a novel that feeds on the Victorian male imagination, particularly concerning the topic of female sexuality. In Victorian England, womens sexual behaviour was dictated by societys extremely rigid expectations. A Victorian woman effectively had only two options either she was a virgin or she was a wife and mother. If she was neither of these, she was considered a whore. A women never had the right to choose which kind of life style she wanted to have, she was simply labeled if she didnt conform, we can see this with Lucy when she must choose who she wants to marry she simple states that in her ideal world Why cant they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble. 7 This is very degrading, Lucy, is stating that she wishes she didnt have to make a choice and she wishes that her life was all laid out for her, however it could be argued that she wants this because of her personality rather than her fate. By the time Dracula lands in England and begins to work his evil magic on Lucy Westenra, we understand that the impending battle between good and evil will depend upon female sexuality, both Lucy and Mina are less like real people than two-dimensional embodiments of virtues that have, over the ages, been coded as female. Both women are chaste, pure, innocent of the worlds evils, and devoted to their men. But Dracula threatens to turn the two women into their opposites, into women noted for their voluptuousness-a word Stoker turns to again and again-and unapologetically open sexual desire. Blanche within A Street Car Named Desire is also presented as a sexual desire from Mitch and even Stanley. Mitch likes her not only for her looks but who she is I like you to be exactly the way that you are8 Mitch doesnt think of Blanche in a sexual way until later on in the play. Blanches fear of death presents itself in the fear of her ageing and loosing her beauty. She refuses to tell anyone her own age why do you want to know9 Blanche seems to believe that by continually asserting her sexuality towards men especially those who are younger, she will be able to avoid death and return to the world of teenage bliss that she experienced before her husband committed suicide. However, beginning in Scene One, Williams suggests that Blanches sexual history is in fact a cause of her downfall. When she first arrives at the Kowalskis, Blanche says she rode a streetcar named Desire, then transferred to a streetcar named Cemeteries, which brought her to a street named Elysian Fields. This journey, the precursor to the play, allegorically represents the trajectory of Blanches life. The Elysian Fields are the land of the dead in Greek mythology. Blanches lifelong pursuit of her sexual desires has led to her eviction from Belle Reve, her ostracism from Laurel, and, at the end of the play, her expulsion from society at large. Sex and death are intricately and fatally linked within Blanches experiences through out the novel. In Scene One, Stanley throws a package of meat at his adoring Stella for her to catch. The action sends Eunice and the Negro woman into peals of laughter. Presumably, theyve picked up on the sexual innuendo behind Stanleys gesture. In hurling the meat at Stella, Stanley states the sexual proprietorship he holds over her. Stellas delight in catching Stanleys meat signifies her sexual infatuation with him. This also shows Stella in light of the new woman, however Stanley is the one initiating the sexual activity again pushing Stella back into her traditional role. Stella tries on many occasions pushing herself into the role of the new woman however Stanley always fails to allow her to do so. A Streetcar Named Desire presents a sharp critique of the way the institutions and attitudes of postwar America placed restrictions on womens lives. Williams uses Blanches and Stellas dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South. Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image. Blanche recognizes that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley. Yet, the alternative Blanche proposes-contacting Shep Huntleigh for financial support-still involves complete dependence on men. When Stella chooses to remain with Stanley, she chooses to rely on, love, and believe in a man instead of her sister. Williams does not necessarily criticize Stella-he makes it quite clear that Stanley represents a much more secure future than Blanche does. Five: contextual information linking to the authors and the characters. The decade in which Stoker wrote and published Dracula was one of the unprecedented anxiety and uncertainty about the social roles, sexual nature and natural spheres of activity of men and women. As many women fought for a larger role in public life and a bigger challenge towards the traditions that define women as being, passive, domestic and naturally submissive, the debate opened to men and the males natural role. While Victorian feminists advanced on previous male preserves, crossing boarders and redefining categories, the more conservative press reacted by reiterating gender normalities, insisting that the essential differences between the sexes and their separate duties. Stoker deliberately located the gothic horror of Dracula in the late nineteenth century world of technological advances, gender instability and the rapid increase in conversation. Mina Travels with a portable typewriter which presents her with power and knowledge of a skill such as writing, which today we take for granted.

Time Management: Putting Time On Your Side Essay -- essays research pa

Time Management: Putting Time on Your Side   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. To waste one’s time is to waste one’s life, but mastery of time usage is mastery of life and making the most of it. Einstein once said, â€Å"There is no absolute relation in time between two events, but there is an absolute relation between space and time† (Sharp 1). Time is a mystery. It cannot be tied down by definition or confined inside a formula. Like gravity, it is a phenomenon that we can experience but cannot understand. We are aware of the ageing of our bodies, of the effects of the movements of our planet, and of the ticking of the clock. We learn a little about what we call the past and we know that change is built into our lives. But neither philosophers nor scientists have been able to analyze and explain all of the meaning of time. Not only have they failed to provide easy explanations, but their efforts sometimes seem to have made mystery more mysterious and to have shown us t hat our lack of understanding was even greater than we supposed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some philosophers argue that the passage of time is an important metaphysical fact, but one that can only be grasped by non-rational intuition. Others tell us that the flow of time is an illusion and that the future can no more be changed than the past. Some believe that future events come into existence as the present; the future becomes the actual â€Å"moment-in-being.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When spending money, one presumably tries to balance their expenditures in such a way as to obtain the best possible yield. This means that one will probably refrain from spending all of their assets on a single commodity. Instead, one will distribute their expenditure over a variety of different goods and services. The optimum situation will have been reached when it is impossible to increase satisfaction by reducing expenditure in one field and making a corresponding increase in another. A more technical description of this condition of equilibrium would be to say that the marginal utility of one dollar must be the same in all different sectors of expenditures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the same manner, one tries to economize with their time resources. They must be so distributed as to give an equal yield in all sects of use. Otherwise, it would pay t... ...able units using periods of available time. Focus on the task at hand by mentally establishing successful outcomes and working back to identify the steps that lead there. Make a daily, prioritized schedule of tasks and events. Write things down for memory’s sake and to keep a clutter free mind. Time management is a skill that needs to be practiced, and once perfected, it will make light of any busy schedule for any busy person. Works Cited Sharp, Clifford. The Economics of Time. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1981 Lakien, Alan. How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  New York: David McKay Co., 1973 Schofield, Deniece. Confessions of an Organized Housewife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 1984 Linder, Staffan Burenstam. The Harried Leisure Class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  New York: Columbia University Press, 1970 Kozoll, Charles E. Coaches Guide to Time Management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 1985 Mackenzie, Alec. The Time Trap. New York: Amacom, 1990 Winston, Stephanie. Getting Organized. New York: Warner Books, 1978 Time Management: Putting Time On Your Side Essay -- essays research pa Time Management: Putting Time on Your Side   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. To waste one’s time is to waste one’s life, but mastery of time usage is mastery of life and making the most of it. Einstein once said, â€Å"There is no absolute relation in time between two events, but there is an absolute relation between space and time† (Sharp 1). Time is a mystery. It cannot be tied down by definition or confined inside a formula. Like gravity, it is a phenomenon that we can experience but cannot understand. We are aware of the ageing of our bodies, of the effects of the movements of our planet, and of the ticking of the clock. We learn a little about what we call the past and we know that change is built into our lives. But neither philosophers nor scientists have been able to analyze and explain all of the meaning of time. Not only have they failed to provide easy explanations, but their efforts sometimes seem to have made mystery more mysterious and to have shown us t hat our lack of understanding was even greater than we supposed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some philosophers argue that the passage of time is an important metaphysical fact, but one that can only be grasped by non-rational intuition. Others tell us that the flow of time is an illusion and that the future can no more be changed than the past. Some believe that future events come into existence as the present; the future becomes the actual â€Å"moment-in-being.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When spending money, one presumably tries to balance their expenditures in such a way as to obtain the best possible yield. This means that one will probably refrain from spending all of their assets on a single commodity. Instead, one will distribute their expenditure over a variety of different goods and services. The optimum situation will have been reached when it is impossible to increase satisfaction by reducing expenditure in one field and making a corresponding increase in another. A more technical description of this condition of equilibrium would be to say that the marginal utility of one dollar must be the same in all different sectors of expenditures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the same manner, one tries to economize with their time resources. They must be so distributed as to give an equal yield in all sects of use. Otherwise, it would pay t... ...able units using periods of available time. Focus on the task at hand by mentally establishing successful outcomes and working back to identify the steps that lead there. Make a daily, prioritized schedule of tasks and events. Write things down for memory’s sake and to keep a clutter free mind. Time management is a skill that needs to be practiced, and once perfected, it will make light of any busy schedule for any busy person. Works Cited Sharp, Clifford. The Economics of Time. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1981 Lakien, Alan. How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  New York: David McKay Co., 1973 Schofield, Deniece. Confessions of an Organized Housewife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 1984 Linder, Staffan Burenstam. The Harried Leisure Class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  New York: Columbia University Press, 1970 Kozoll, Charles E. Coaches Guide to Time Management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 1985 Mackenzie, Alec. The Time Trap. New York: Amacom, 1990 Winston, Stephanie. Getting Organized. New York: Warner Books, 1978

The Success of Thomas Hardys Novel The Return of the Native as a Trage

The Success of Thomas Hardy's Novel The Return of the Native as a Tragedy On the first chapter of this novel Egdon Heath is presented as an untameable force "unmoved during so many centuries, through the crisis of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one last crisis - the final overthrow". Thus, from the very beginning of the novel we can expect an outcome of tragic possibilities. Similarly to ancient Greek tragedies, the action in "The Return of the Native" takes place during a restricted period of time. Usually, in Greek tragedies the plot developed within 24 hours, while Hardy limits himself to the space of 5 books, which represents an exact time of 1 year and a day. Although the novel extends to a 6th book; the main action and the tragedy itself is developed within the first five books. As its title indicates, the sixth book, "Aftercourses" was added to please the readers of the magazine in which his novel was published, in order to put a more closed end to the series. He provided them with a happy ending; as Thomasin and Venn end up marred. However, in its 1912 edition, Hardy included a footnote at the end of the book in which he stated that it was left to the reader to choose whichever ending he/she preferred. Ironically, Hardy declared "à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and those with an austere artistic code can assume the more consistent conclusion to be the true one". By this, Hardy suggests that the real appraisers of tragedy would conclude on the tragic ending as the most fitting; consistency being also considered by Aristotle as an essential element for tragedy. As a result, similar also to Shakespearian tragedies, which were divided into five acts, the action in Hardy's novel is set up in the first... ... of place, time and other tragedy conventions; the way the plot develops with a sense of foreboding in the novel's consequences, convert this book into a classic of the genre. The relentless mood and development, the numerous lucky (or unlucky) coincidences that are later to determine the future of the characters and the way people continually strive to change the way things are, combine the prefect ingredients of a tragedy. As often in Greek tragedies, fate plays an essential role and the people in the novel can't escape it because it would only keep coming back. Chance seems to dictate the destiny of the characters, playing around with their lives as if they were mere pieces on a chess board. The forces of the heath seem to inflict some sort of control on the characters, fulfilling the Greek tragedy convention of gods playing around with humans' lives. The Success of Thomas Hardy's Novel The Return of the Native as a Trage The Success of Thomas Hardy's Novel The Return of the Native as a Tragedy On the first chapter of this novel Egdon Heath is presented as an untameable force "unmoved during so many centuries, through the crisis of so many things, that it could only be imagined to await one last crisis - the final overthrow". Thus, from the very beginning of the novel we can expect an outcome of tragic possibilities. Similarly to ancient Greek tragedies, the action in "The Return of the Native" takes place during a restricted period of time. Usually, in Greek tragedies the plot developed within 24 hours, while Hardy limits himself to the space of 5 books, which represents an exact time of 1 year and a day. Although the novel extends to a 6th book; the main action and the tragedy itself is developed within the first five books. As its title indicates, the sixth book, "Aftercourses" was added to please the readers of the magazine in which his novel was published, in order to put a more closed end to the series. He provided them with a happy ending; as Thomasin and Venn end up marred. However, in its 1912 edition, Hardy included a footnote at the end of the book in which he stated that it was left to the reader to choose whichever ending he/she preferred. Ironically, Hardy declared "à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and those with an austere artistic code can assume the more consistent conclusion to be the true one". By this, Hardy suggests that the real appraisers of tragedy would conclude on the tragic ending as the most fitting; consistency being also considered by Aristotle as an essential element for tragedy. As a result, similar also to Shakespearian tragedies, which were divided into five acts, the action in Hardy's novel is set up in the first... ... of place, time and other tragedy conventions; the way the plot develops with a sense of foreboding in the novel's consequences, convert this book into a classic of the genre. The relentless mood and development, the numerous lucky (or unlucky) coincidences that are later to determine the future of the characters and the way people continually strive to change the way things are, combine the prefect ingredients of a tragedy. As often in Greek tragedies, fate plays an essential role and the people in the novel can't escape it because it would only keep coming back. Chance seems to dictate the destiny of the characters, playing around with their lives as if they were mere pieces on a chess board. The forces of the heath seem to inflict some sort of control on the characters, fulfilling the Greek tragedy convention of gods playing around with humans' lives.

Monopolistic vs Oligopolistic Essay

Monopolistic and Oligopolistic are pretty much the same except for the size of the manufacturing companies. In simple terms, a monopoly is where there is a single seller in the marketing industry and an oligopoly is where there is small group of sellers in the same field in marketing industries. When it comes to a monopolistic competition, this is where a market structure has a large number of sellers, each of which is relatively small and posse a very small market share. An oligopoly market is where there are fewer large producers who are present in the industry world and account for most of the output in the industry, there are many small firms but these few large firms dominate and have concentrated market shares. Oligopoly also has more barriers to entry than a monopolistic. I would say that Comcast the cable company is a Monopolistic competition in the market right now. The reason I say this, is because there is not much options for entertainment when it comes to cable. Comcast has made their name around the country, providing what other companies are not. Making them a monopoly amounts other companies. I would consider breakfast cereal companies an oligopoly because there are four breakfast cereal manufactures that I know of, Kellogg, Post, Quaker and General Mills. Because there are only four companies competing to make breakfast cereal, they are called an oligopoly. Whereas, only one company competing to provide cable TV to the customers, they are called monopoly.

English Renaissance Drama Essay Example

English Renaissance Drama Essay Example English Renaissance Drama Essay English Renaissance Drama Essay Essay Topic: The Bean Eaters Twelfth Night English Renaissance play grew out of the established Medieval tradition of the enigma and morality dramas. These public eyeglassess focused on spiritual topics and were by and large enacted by either choristers and monastics. or a town’s shopkeepers ( as subsequently seen fondly memorialized by Shakespeare’s mechanicals’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream ) . At the terminal of the 15th century. a new type of drama appeared. These short dramas and revels were performed at baronial families and at tribunal. particularly at holiday times. These short amusements. called Interludes . started the move off from the didactic nature of the earlier dramas toward strictly secular dramas. and frequently added more comedy than was present in the medieval predecessors. Since most of these vacation revels were non documented and play texts have disappeared and been destroyed. the existent dating of the passage is hard. The first extant strictly secular drama. Henry Medwall’s Fulgens and Lucres. was performed at the family of Cardinal Morton. where the immature Thomas More was functioning as a page. Early Tudor interludes shortly grew more luxuriant. integrating music and dance. and some. particularly those by John Heywood. were to a great extent influenced by Gallic travesty. Not merely were dramas switching accent from learning to entertaining. they were besides easy altering focal point from the spiritual towards the political. John Skelton’s Magnyfycence ( 1515 ) . for illustration. while on the face of it resembling the mediaeval fable dramas with its characters of Virtues and Vices. was a political sarcasm against Cardinal Wolsey. Magnyfycence was so incendiary that Skelton had to travel into the sanctuary of Westminster to get away the wrath of Wolsey. The first history dramas were written in the 1530’s. the most noteworthy of which was John Bale’s King Johan. While it considered affairs of morality and faith. these were handled in the visible radiation of the Reformation. These dramas set the case in point of showing history in the dramatic medium and laid the foundation for what would subsequently be elevated by Marlowe and Shakespeare into the English History Play. or Chronicle Play. in the latter portion of the century. Not merely was the Reformation taking clasp in England. but the air currents of Classical Humanism were brushing in from the Continent. Interest grew in the classics and the dramas of classical antiquity. particularly in the universities. Latin texts were being Englysshed and Latin poesy and dramas began to be adapted into English dramas. In 1553. a headmaster named Nicholas Udall wrote an English comedy titled Ralph Roister Doister based on the traditional Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence. The drama was the first to present the Latin character type stat mis gloriosus ( braggart soldier ) into English dramas. honed to flawlessness subsequently by Shakespeare in the character of Falstaff. Around the same clip at Cambridge. the comedy Gammer Gurton’s Needle . perchance by William Stevens of Christ’s College. was diverting the pupils. It paid closer attending to the construction of the Latin dramas and was the first to follow the five-act division. Writers were besides developing English calamities for the first clip. influenced by Greek and Latin authors. Among the first forays into English calamity were Richard Edwards’ Damon and Pythias ( 1564 ) and John Pickering’s New Interlude of Vice Incorporating the History of Horestes ( 1567 ) . The most influential author of classical calamities. nevertheless. was the Roman playwright Seneca. whose plants were translated into English by Jasper Heywood. boy of dramatist John Heywood. in 1589. Seneca’s plays incorporated rhetorical addresss. blood and force. and frequently shades ; constituents which were to calculate conspicuously in both Elizabethan and Jacobean play. The first outstanding English calamity in the Senecan mold was Gorboduc ( 1561 ) . written by two attorneies. Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton. at the Inns of Court ( schools of jurisprudence ) . Apart from following Senecan conventions and construction. the drama is most of import as the first English drama to be in clean poetry. Blank poetry. non-rhyming lines in iambic pentameter. was introduced into English literature by sonneteers Wyatt and Surrey in the 1530’s. Its usage in a work of dramatic literature paved the manner for Marlowe’s mighty line and the keen poesy of Shakespeare’s dramatic poetry. With a new swayer on the throne. Queen Elizabeth I. who enjoyed and encouraged the theatrical humanistic disciplines. the phase was set for the organic structure of dramatic literature we today name Elizabethan Drama. The Social and Political Climate In 1600. the metropolis of London had a population of 245. 000 people. twice the size of Paris or Amsterdam. Playwriting was the least personal signifier of authorship. but clearly the most profitable for literary work forces since the demand was so great: 15. 000 people attended the wendy houses hebdomadally. What is frequently exploited in the dramas is the tenseness between a Court civilization and a commercial civilization. which in bend reflected the tenseness between the City authorities and the Crown. The period from 1576 ( day of the month of the first public theater in London ) to 1642 ( day of the month that the Puritans closed the theaters ) is alone in its end product and quality of literature in English. The monarchy rested on two claims: that it was of godly beginning and that it governed by consent of the people. The period was one of great passage. This period of history is by and large regarded as the English Renaissance. which took topographic point about 100 old ages subsequently than on the continent. The period besides coincides with the Reformation. and the two epochs are of class reciprocally related. Imposed upon the Elizabethans was a societal hierarchy of order and degree- very much medieval constructs that existed more in signifier than in substance. The society of Shakespeare’s clip had in many ways broken free of these rigidnesss. It was non that people were rejecting the yesteryear ; instead. a new more stiff order was replacing the old. This was set into gesture during Henry VIII’s reign in the 1530s when he assumed more power than had hitherto been known to the monarchy. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 gave to Henry the power of the Church every bit good as temporal power. By Shakespeare’s clip the province had asserted its right in trying to derive authorization in secular and religious affairs likewise. The alleged Tudor myth had sought to warrant actions by the Crown. and choices for the monarchy. as God-sanctioned: to queer those determinations was to transgress. because these people were selected by God. The population of the City quadrupled from Henry VIII’s reign to the terminal of Shakespeare’s life ( 1616 ) . therefore adding to the necessity for civil control and jurisprudence. The disintegration of the monasteries had caused much civil agitation. and the homeless monastics and nuns had been forced to come in the work force. Thus the employment. or unemployment. job was severe. Puritanism. which foremost emerged early in Elizabeth’s reign. was a minority force of clerics. Members of Parliament. and others who felt that the Anglican Reformation had stopped abruptly of its end. Puritans used the Bible as a usher to carry on. non merely to faith. but to political and societal life. and since they could read it in their ain linguistic communication. it took on for them a greater importance than it had of all time held. They stressed peculiarly the thought of retrieving the Sabbath twenty-four hours. The struggle between the Puritans and the players of the theatre- who performed for the larger crowds that would turn out for productions on the Sabbath- was established early. The Elizabethan Worldview The English Renaissance began with the importing of Italian art and doctrine. Humanism. during the reign of Henry VIII. Henry Howard. Earl of Surrey. imported and translated classical Hagiographas. such as Virgil’s Aeneid. the first English work to utilize Blank Verse. Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyatt in their sonnets besides imitated classical authors such as Petrarch. and are credited as Fathers of the English Sonnet. While the Great Chain of Being ( an thought suggested from antiquity ; all that exists is in a created order. from the lowest possible class to flawlessness. God Himself ) was still asserted. the antonym. the world of upset. was merely as prevalent. Not surprisingly. a favourite metaphor in Shakespeare’s plants is the universe upside down. much as Hamlet nowadayss. The analogical manner was the predominating rational construct for the epoch. which was inherited from the Middle Ages: the analogical wont of head. with its correspondences. hierarchies. and microcosmic-macrocosmic relationships. survived from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Levels of being. including human and cosmic. were habitually correlated. and correspondences and resemblances were perceived everyplace. Man was a go-between between himself and the existence. An analogy of being likened adult male to God ; nevertheless. the Reformation sought to alter this position. stressing man’s fallen nature and darkness of ground. The analogy can be seen in the London theater. correlating the disparate planes of Earth ( the phase ) . snake pit ( the cellarage ) . and heaven ( the heavens. projecting above the top of the phase ) . Degree. precedence. and topographic point were afforded all elements. depending on their distance from flawlessness. God. Because he possessed both psyche and organic structure. adult male had a alone topographic point in the chain- the extremes of human potency are everyplace apparent in the play of the English Renaissance. Natural devolution. in contrast to our optimistic thought of advancement. was everyplace in grounds too- the crude Edenic golden age was unrecoverable. and the predicted terminal of the universe was at hand. With alterations in the ways that adult male looked at his existence. upseting finds suggested mutableness and corruptness: the terrorizing consequence of new stars. comets. etc. . added to a pessimism that anticipated marks of decay as revelatory omens of nearing cosmopolitan disintegration. Hierarchically. the human psyche was threefold: the highest. or rational psyche. which adult male on Earth possessed unambiguously ; the animal. or appetitive psyche. which adult male shared with lower animate beings ; and the lowest. or vegetive ( vegetable ; alimentary ) psyche. concerned chiefly with reproduction and growing. The psyche was facilitated in its work by the body’s three chief variety meats. liver. bosom. and encephalon: the liver served the soul’s vegetal. the bosom its vital. and the encephalon its carnal faculties- motive. chief virtuousnesss. etc. Man himself was formed by a natural combination of the four elements: the dull elements of Earth and water- both be givening to fall to the centre of the universe- and air and fire- both be givening to lift. When the elements mixed they shaped man’s disposition. Each component possessed two of the four primary qualities which combined into a humour or human disposition: Earth ( cold and dry: melancholy ) . H2O ( cold and moist: phlegmatic ) ; air ( hot and moist: sanguine ) ; fire ( hot and dry: choleric ) . Like his psyche and his temper. man’s organic structure obsessed cosmic affinities: the encephalon with the Moon ; the liver with the planet Jupiter ; the lien with the planet Saturn. Assigned to each of the stars and the domain of fixed stars was a hierarchy of immaterial liquors. angels or devils. On Earth. the fallen angels and Satan. along with such supernatural forces as enchantresss. continued to allure adult male and lead him on to transgress. Familiar to Shakespeare and his coevalss were the Aristotelean four causes: the concluding cause. or aim or stop for which a alteration is made ; the efficient cause. or that by which some alteration is made ; the stuff cause. or that in which a alteration is made ; and formal cause. or that into which something is changed. Renaissance concern with causing may be seen in Polonius’ laboring of the efficient cause of Hamlet’s lunacy. For this consequence faulty comes by cause ( 2. 2. 101-03 ) . In the Aristotelean position. alteration involves a integrity between possible affair and actualized signifier. Change is therefore a procedure of going. affected by a cause which acts determinately towards a end to bring forth a consequence. Implicit in the Elizabethan worldview was the Aristotelean thought of causing as embracing potency and act. affair and head. The London dramatist’s pre-Cartesian existence. so. tended to retain a sense of the sense of purpose of natural objects and their topographic point in the godly strategy. Towards the mid-seventeenth century a major cleft between the medieval-Renaissance world-view and the modern universe position took topographic point. effected by Renee Descartes ( 1596-1650 ) . Cartesian dualism separated off head from affair. and psyche from body- not a new thought. but reformulated so that the theologians’ philosophies became the philosophers’ ; the jobs of Predestination were all of a sudden the jobs of Determinism. For Descartes. all nature was to be explained as either idea or extension ; hence. the head became a strictly intelligent substance. the organic structure a soulless mechanical system. Descartes’ doctrine held that one can cognize merely one’s ain clear and distinguishable thoughts. Objects are of import merely in so far as adult male brings his ain judgements to bear upon them. Cartesian incredulity and subjectivism led to the rejection of the old centuries’ Aristotelean positions. as meaningless or obscure. Harmonizing to Aristotle. to cognize the cause of things was to cognize their nature. For the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. objects influenced each other through common affinities and aversions. Elizabethans accepted the correspondences of understandings and aversions in nature. including a homeopathic impression that like remedies like. Well into the 17th century. alchemical. hermetical. astrological. and other pre-scientific beliefs continued to exercise. even on the heads of distinguished scientists. a discernable influence. Concerned with the demand to believe. in an age of inchoate uncertainty. theater audiences frequently witnessed in calamities such battles to prolong belief: Hamlet has a demand to swear the Ghost ; Lear has a wracked concern for celestial powers ; and Othello feels a despairing necessity to continue his belief in Desdemona- when I love thee non. / Chaos is come again ( 3. 3. 92-3 ) . For Othello and Lear. belief is saneness. Theologically. in the ulterior 16th century. godly Providence seemed progressively to be questioned. or at least to be regarded as more bafflingly cryptic. The mediaeval sense of security was in a procedure of transmutation. Those alterations coincided with such fortunes as the Renaissance resurgence of Epicureanism. which stressed the indifference of the powers above to man’s concerns. In its topographic point was a particular personal power. which was emphasized in the plants of Machiavelli ( 1469-1527 ) and other Renaissance authors. Such alterations in the dealingss of adult male and his divinity necessarily provided a clime for calamity. wherein both godly justness ( as in King Lear ) and meaningful action ( as in Hamlet ) seemed every bit unachievable. Lear appears to oppugn the forces above man’s life. and Hamlet the powers beyond his decease. Hamlet’s undertaking is farther complicated. for illustration. by his meaningless pursuit for action- from a Reformation standpoint- of works toward redemption. The way to redemption. of great concern to most Elizabethans. was non through plants or virtue but by cryptic godly election. The post-Reformation adult male. alienated from the nonsubjective construction of the traditional Church. every bit good as from the release of the confessional. with a burdened and isolated scruples. turned his guilt inward. The Renaissance epistemic crisis emphasized the impression of the relativity of perceptual experience. nowadays in the appearance-versus-reality motive recurrent through Renaissance play. The Renaissance dramatists’ works mark a passage between absolute natural jurisprudence bestowed by God. and relativistic natural jurisprudence. recognized by adult male. The Playhouses The old Medieval phase of place-and-scaffolds. still in usage in Scotland in the early 16th century. had fallen into neglect ; the sort of impermanent phase that was dominant in England about 1575 was the booth phase of the marketplace- a little rectangular phase mounted on trestles or barrels and open in the sense of being surrounded by witnesss on three sides. The phase proper of the booth phase by and large measured from 15 to 25 ft. in breadth and from 10 to 15 ft. in deepness ; its tallness above the land averaged a turn 5 ft. 6 in. . with extremes runing every bit low as 4 ft. and every bit high as 8 ft. ; and it was backed by a cloth-covered booth. normally unfastened at the top. which served as a tiring-house ( short for attiring house. where the histrions dressed ) . In the England of 1575 there were two sorts of edifices. designed for maps other than the playing of dramas. which were adapted by the participants as impermanent out-of-door wendy houses: the animal-baiting rings or game houses ( e. g. Bear Garden ) and the hostel. Presumably. a booth phase was set up against a wall at one side of the pace. with the audience standing in the pace environing the phase on three sides. Out of these natural wendy houses grew two major categories of lasting Elizabethan wendy house. public and private. In general. the public wendy houses were big out-of-door theaters. whereas the private wendy houses were smaller indoor theaters. The maximal capacity of a typical public wendy house ( e. g. . the Swan ) was about 3. 000 witnesss ; that of a typical private wendy house ( e. g. . the Second Blackfriars ) . about 700 witnesss. At the public playhouses the bulk of witnesss were groundlings who stood in the soil pace for a penny ; the balance were sitting in galleries and boxes for two pence or more. At the private wendy houses all witnesss were seated ( in cavity. galleries. and boxes ) and paid tanner or more. In the beginning. the private wendy houses were used entirely by Boys’ companies. but this differentiation disappeared about 1609 when the King’s Men. in abode at the Globe in the summer. began utilizing the Blackfriars in winter. Originally the private wendy houses were found merely within the City of London ( the Paul’s Playhouse. the First and Second Blackfriars ) . the public playhouses merely in the suburbs ( the Theatre. the Curtain. the Rose. the Globe. the Fortune. the Red Bull ) ; but this differentiation disappeared about 1606 with the gap of the Whitefriars Playhouse to the West of Ludgate. Public-theatre audiences. though socially heterogenous. were drawn chiefly from the lower classes- a state of affairs that has caused modern bookmans to mention to the public-theatre audiences as popular ; whereas private-theatre audiences tended to dwell of gentlemen ( those who were university educated ) and aristocracy ; select is the word most normally opposed to popular in this regard. James Burbage. male parent to the celebrated histrion Richard Burbage of Shakespeare’s company. construct the first lasting theater in London. the Theatre. in 1576. He likely simply adapted the signifier of the baiting-house to theatrical demands. To make so he built a big unit of ammunition construction really much like a baiting-house but with five major inventions in the standard signifier. First. he paved the ring with brick or rock. therefore paving the cavity into a yard. Second. Burbage erected a phase in the yard- his theoretical account was the booth phase of the market place. larger than used before. with stations instead than trestles. Third. he erected a lasting tiring-house in topographic point of the booth. Here his head theoretical account was the transition screens of the Tudor domestic hall. They were modified to defy the conditions by the interpolation of doors in the room accesss. Presumably the tiring-house. as a lasting construction. was inset into the frame of the wendy house instead than. as in the older impermanent state of affairs of the booth phase. put up against the frame of a baiting-house. The gallery over the tiring-house ( presumptively divided into boxes ) was capable of functioning diversely as a Lord’s room for privileged or high-paying witnesss. as a music-room. and as a station for the occasional public presentation of action above as. for illustration. Juliet’s balcony. Fourth. Burbage built a cover over the rear portion of the phase. called the Heavens . supported by stations lifting from the pace and surmounted by a hut. And fifth. Burbage added a 3rd gallery to the frame. The theory of beginning and development suggested in the preceding agreements with our main pictural beginning of information about the Elizabethan phase. the De Witt drawing of the inside of the Swan Playhouse ( c. 1596 ) . It seems likely that most of the unit of ammunition public playhouses- specifically. the Theatre ( 1576 ) . the Swan ( 1595 ) . the First Globe ( 1599 ) . the Hope ( 1614 ) . and the Second Globe ( 1614 ) - were of about the same size. The Second Blackfriars Playhouse of 1596 was designed by James Burbage. and he built his wendy house in the upper-story Parliament Chamber of the Upper Frater of the priory. The Parliament Chamber measured 100 ft. in length. but for the wendy house Burbage used merely two-thirds of this length. The room in inquiry. after the remotion of dividers spliting it into flats. measured 46 ft. in breadth and 66 ft. in length. The phase likely measured 29 ft. in breadth and 18 ft. 6 in. in deepness. The Staging Conventions In the private theaters. act-intervals and music between Acts of the Apostless were customary from the beginning. A music-room was at first missing in the public wendy houses. since public-theatre public presentations did non originally use act-intervals and inter-act music. About 1609. nevertheless. after the King’s work forces had begun executing at the Blackfriars every bit good as at the Globe. the usage of inter-act music seems to hold spread from the private to the public wendy houses. and with it seemingly came the usage of utilizing one of the tiring-house boxes over the phase as a music-room. The play was conventional. non realistic: poesy was the most obvious convention. others included asides. monologues. male childs playing the functions of adult females. conflicts ( with merely a few participants ) . the daylight convention ( many scenes are set at dark. though the dramas took topographic point in mid-afternoon under the sky ) . a convention of clip ( the clock and calendar are used merely at the dramatist’s discretion ) . the convention of eavesdropping ( many characters overhear others. which the audience is secluded to but the overheard characters are non ) . and motion from topographic point to topographic point as suggested by the book and the audience’s imaginativeness. Exits were strong. and when everyone departed the phase. a alteration of scene was indicated. There was comparatively small scenery. Scenery was largely implicative ; for illustration. one or two trees standing in for a whole wood. The elaborate costumes- for which companies paid a great trade of money- supplied the colour and pageantry. Minimal scenery and limited costume alterations made the passages between scenes lightning-fast and kept the narrative traveling. There was frequently dancing before and after the play- at times. during. like the peasants’ dance in Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale. Jigs were frequently given at the terminal of public presentations. a usage preserved still today at Shakespeare’s Globe. The gigue at the theater were non ever mere dances. they were sometimes comprised of vocals and bawdy knockabout travesties filled with commentaries on current events. Possibly the most celebrated gigue was the 1 performed by Will Kemp. the buffoon in Shakespeare’s company. over a nine twenty-four hours period in 1599. on the route from London to Norwich. It was published in 1600 as Kemps nine twenty-four hourss wonder. After 1600. the bawdry gigue fell into derision and disdain and were merely performed at theaters such as the Red Bull. which catered to an audience appreciative of the lowest wit and most violent action. The buffoons were the great stars of the Elizabethan phase prior to the rise of the celebrated tragedians of the late 1580s. such as Edward ( Ned ) Alleyn and Richard Burbage. Every company had a top buffoon along with the tragedian?hakespeare? company was no exclusion: Richard Tarleton was the buffoon until his decease in 1588. Will Kemp was the buffoon until forced out of the company in 1599. to be replaced by another celebrated buffoon. Robin Armin. The buffoons non merely performed the aforesaid gigue. but besides played many of the great amusing characters ; Kemp most likely played Peter in Romeo and Juliet and Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing. Armin the parts of Feste in Twelfth Night and the Fool in King Lear. From modern-day paperss. we know there were over a 1000 histrions in England between 1580-1642* . Most were hapless. starving actors . but a few twelve were able to do names for themselves and go stockholders in their several companies. and do a good life. The repertory system was demanding esides playing six yearss a hebdomad. a company would be in continual dry run in order to add new dramas and to review old 1s in their agenda. A participant would likely larn a new function every hebdomad. with 30 to forty functions in his caput. No minor effort. particularly sing that an histrion would merely acquire his lines and cues ( in a rolled up parchment. his roll . from which we get the word role ) . non a whole book! Over a period of three old ages. a tragedian such as Edward Alleyn. lead participant for the Admiral’s Men. would larn non merely 50 new parts but besides retain twenty or more old functions.

Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst in the French Indian War

Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst in the French Indian War Jeffery Amherst - Early Life Career: Jeffery Amherst was born January 29, 1717, in Sevenoaks, England. The son of lawyer Jeffery Amherst and his wife Elizabeth, he went on to become a page in the household of the Duke of Dorset at age 12. Some sources indicate that his military career began in November 1735 when he was made an ensign in the 1st Foot Guards. Others suggest that his career began as a cornet in Major General John Ligoniers Regiment of Horse in Ireland that same year. Regardless, in 1740, Ligonier recommended Amherst for promotion to lieutenant. Jeffery Amherst - War of the Austrian Succession: Through the early years of his career, Amherst enjoyed the patronage of both Dorset and Ligonier. Learning from the gifted Ligonier, Amherst was referred to as his dear pupil. Appointed to the generals staff, he served during the War of the Austrian Succession and saw action at Dettingen and Fontenoy. In December 1745, he was made a captain in the 1st Foot Guards and given a commission as a lieutenant colonel at large in the army. As with many of the British troops on the Continent he returned to Britain that year to aid in putting down the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. In 1747, the Duke of Cumberland took overall command of British forces in Europe and selected Amherst to serve as one of his aides-de-camp. Acting in this role, he saw further service at the Battle of Lauffeld. With the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Amherst moved into peacetime service with his regiment. With the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756, Amherst was appointed to be the commissariat for the Hessian forces that had been gathered to defend Hanover. During this time, he was promoted to colonel of the 15th Foot but remained with the Hessians. Jeffery Amherst - The Seven Years War: Largely fulfilling an administrative role, Amherst came to England with the Hessians during an invasion scare in May 1756. Once this abated, he returned to Germany the following spring and served in the Duke of Cumberlands Army of Observation. On July 26, 1757, he took part in Cumberlands defeat at the Battle of Hastenbeck. Retreating, Cumberland concluded the Convention of Klosterzeven which removed Hanover from the war. As Amherst moved to disband his Hessians, word came that the convention had been repudiated and the army was re-formed under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick. Jeffery Amherst - Assignment to North America: As he prepared his men for the coming campaign, Amherst was recalled to Britain. In October 1757, Ligonier was made overall commander-in-chief of British forces. Disheartened by Lord Loudons failure to seize the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in 1757, Ligonier made its capture a priority for 1758. To oversee the operation, he chose his former pupil. This was a stunning move as Amherst was relatively junior in the service and had never commanded troops in battle. Trusting Ligonier, King George II approved the selection and Amherst was given the temporary rank of major general in America. Jeffery Amherst - Siege of Louisbourg: Departing Britain on March 16, 1758, Amherst endured a long, slow Atlantic crossing. Having issued detailed orders for the mission, William Pitt and Ligonier ensured that the expedition sailed from Halifax before the end of May. Led by Admiral Edward Boscawen, the British fleet sailed for Louisbourg. Arriving off the French base, it encountered Amhersts arriving ship. Reconnoitering the shores of Gabarus Bay, his men, led by Brigadier General James Wolfe, fought their away ashore on June 8. Advancing on Louisbourg, Amherst laid siege to the town. After series of fights, it surrendered on July 26. In the wake of his victory, Amherst considered a move against Quebec, but the lateness of the season and news of Major General James Abercrombies defeat at the Battle of Carillon led him to decide against an attack. Instead, he ordered Wolfe to raid French settlements around the Gulf of St. Lawrence while he moved to join Abercrombie. Landing in Boston, Amherst marched overland to Albany and then north to Lake George. On November 9, he learned that Abercrombie had been recalled and that he had been named commander-in-chief in North America. Jeffery Amherst - Conquering Canada: For the coming year, Amherst planned multiple strikes against Canada. While Wolfe, now a major general, was to attack up the St. Lawrence and take Quebec, Amherst intended to move up Lake Champlain, capture Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) and then move against either Montreal or Quebec. To support these operations, Brigadier General John Prideaux was dispatched west against Fort Niagara. Pushing forward, Amherst succeeded in taking the fort on June 27 and occupied Fort Saint-Frà ©dà ©ric (Crown Point) in early August. Learning of French ships at the northern end of the lake, he paused to build a squadron of his own. Resuming his advance in October, he learned of Wolfes victory at the Battle of Quebec and of the citys capture. Concerned that the entirety of the French army in Canada would be concentrated at Montreal, he declined to advance further and returned to Crown Point for the winter. For the 1760 campaign, Amherst intended to mount a three-pronged attack against Montreal. While troops advanced up the river from Quebec, a column led by Brigadier General William Haviland would push north over Lake Champlain. The main force, led by Amherst, would move to Oswego then cross Lake Ontario and attack the city from the west. Logistical issues delayed the campaign and Amherst did not depart Oswego until August 10, 1760. Successfully overcoming French resistance, he arrived outside of Montreal on September 5. Outnumbered and short on supplies, the French opened surrender negotiations during which he stated, I have come to take Canada and I will take nothing less. After brief talks, Montreal surrendered on September 8 along with all of New France. Though Canada had been taken, the war continued. Returning to New York, he organized expeditions against Dominica and Martinique in 1761 and Havana in 1762. He was also forced to send troops to expel the French from Newfoundland. Jeffery Amherst - Later Career: Though the war with France ended in 1763, Amherst immediately faced a new threat in the form of a Native American uprising known as Pontiacs Rebellion. Responding, he directed British operations against the rebelling tribes and approved a plan to introduce smallpox among them through the use of infected blankets. That November, after five years in North America, he embarked for Britain. For his successes, Amherst was promoted to major general (1759) and lieutenant general (1761), as well as accumulated a variety of honorary ranks and titles. Knighted in 1761, he built a new country home, Montreal, at Sevenoaks. Though he turned down command of British forces in Ireland, he accepted the position of governor of Guernsey (1770) and lieutenant-general of the Ordnance (1772). With tensions rising in the colonies, King George III asked Amherst to return to North America in 1775. He declined this offer and the following year was raised to the peerage as Baron Amherst of Holmesdale. With the American Revolution raging, he was again considered for command in North America to replace William Howe. He again refused this offer and instead served as commander-in-chief with the rank of general. Dismissed in 1782 when the government changed, he was recalled in 1793 when war with France was imminent. He retired in 1795 and was promoted to field marshal the following year. Amherst died August 3, 1797, and was buried at Sevenoaks. Selected Sources Canadian Biography: General Jeffrey AmherstJeffrey Amherst Biography

6 Environmental Costs (and 3 Benefits) of Hydroelectricity

6 Environmental Costs (and 3 Benefits) of Hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity is a significant source of power in many regions of the globe, providing 24% of the global electricity needs. Brazil and Norway rely almost exclusively on hydropower. In the United States, 7 to 12% of all electricity is produced by hydropower; the states which depend the most on it are Washington, Oregon, California, and New York. Hydropower vs. Hydroelectricity Hydropower is when water is used to activate moving parts, which in turn may operate a mill, an irrigation system, or an electric turbine (in which case we can use the term hydroelectricity). Most commonly, hydroelectricity is produced when water is held back by a dam, led down a penstock through a turbine, and then released in the river below. The water is both pushed by pressure from the reservoir above and pulled by gravity, and that energy spins a turbine coupled to a generator producing electricity. The rarer run-of-the-river hydroelectric plants also have a dam, but no reservoir behind it; turbines are moved by the river water flowing past them at the natural flow rate. Ultimately, the generation of electricity relies on the natural water cycle to refill the reservoir, making it a renewable process with no input of fossil fuel needed. Our use of fossil fuels is associated with a multitude of environmental problems: for example, the extraction of oil from tar sands produces air pollution; fracking for natural gas is associated with water pollution; the burning of fossil fuels produces climate change-inducing greenhouse gas emissions. We, therefore, look to sources of renewable energy as clean alternatives to fossil fuels. However, like all sources of energy, renewable or not, there are environmental costs associated with hydroelectricity. Here is a review of some of those costs, along with some benefits. Costs Barrier to Fish. Many migratory fish species swim up and down rivers to complete their life cycle. Anadromous fish, like salmon, shad, or Atlantic sturgeon, go upriver to spawn, and young fish swim down river to reach the sea. Catadromous fish, like the American eel, live in the rivers until they swim out to the ocean to breed, and the young eels (elvers) come back to freshwater after they hatch. Dams obviously block the passage of these fish. Some dams are equipped with fish ladders or other devices to let them pass unharmed. The effectiveness of these structures is quite variable but improving.Changes in Flood Regime. Dams can buffer large, sudden volumes of water following spring melt of heavy rains. That can be a good thing for downstream communities (see Benefits below), but it also starves the river from a periodic influx of sediment and prevents the natural high flows from regular re-countering of the river bed, which renews habitat for aquatic life. To recreate these ecologic al processes, authorities periodically release large volumes of water down the Colorado River, with positive effects on the native vegetation alongside the river. Temperature and Oxygen Modulation. Depending on the design of the dam, water released downstream often comes from the deeper parts of the reservoir. That water is therefore much the same cold temperature throughout the year. This has negative impacts on aquatic life adapted to wide seasonal variations in water temperature. Similarly, low oxygen levels in released water can kill aquatic life downstream, but the problem can be mitigated by mixing air into the water at the outlet.  Evaporation. Reservoirs increase a river’s surface area, thus increasing the amount of water lost to evaporation. In hot, sunny regions the losses are staggering: more water is lost from reservoir evaporation than is used for domestic consumption. When water evaporates, dissolved salts are left behind, increasing salinity levels downstream and harming aquatic life.Mercury Pollution. Mercury is deposited on vegetation long distances downwind from coal-burning power plants. When new reservoirs are crea ted, the mercury found in the now submerged vegetation is released and converted by bacteria into methyl-mercury. This methyl-mercury becomes increasingly concentrated as it moves up the food chain (a process called biomagnification). Consumers of predatory fish, including humans, are then exposed to dangerous concentrations of the toxic compound. Methane Emissions. Reservoirs often become saturated with nutrients coming from decomposing vegetation or nearby agricultural fields. These nutrients are consumed by algae and microorganisms which in turn release large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. This problem has of yet not been studied enough to understand its true extent. Benefits Flood control. Reservoir levels can be lowered in anticipation of heavy rain or snowmelt, buffering the communities downstream from dangerous river levels.Recreation. Large reservoirs are often used for recreational activities like fishing and boating.Alternative to Fossil Fuels. Producing hydroelectricity releases a lower net amount of greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. As part of a portfolio of energy sources, hydroelectricity allows greater reliance on domestic energy, as opposed to fossil fuels mined overseas, in locations with less stringent environmental regulations. Some Solutions Because the economic benefits of older dams wane while the environmental costs mount, we have seen any increase in dam decommissioning and removal. These dam removals are spectacular, but most importantly they allow scientists to observe how natural processes are restored along the rivers.   Much of the environmental problems described here are associated with large-scale hydroelectric projects. There is a multitude of very small scale projects (often called â€Å"micro-hydro†) where judiciously placed small turbines use low-volume streams to produce electricity for a single home or a neighborhood. These projects have little environmental impact if properly designed. Sources and Further Reading Filho, Geraldo Lucio Tiago, Ivan Felipe Silva dos Santos, and Regina Mambeli Barros. Cost Estimate of Small Hydroelectric Power Plants Based on the Aspect Factor. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 77 (2017): 229–38. Print.Forsund, Finn R. Hydropower Economics. Springer, 2007.  Hancock, Kathleen J, and Benjamin K Sovacool. International Political Economy and Renewable Energy: Hydroelectric Power and the Resource Curse. International Studies Review 20.4 (2018): 615–32. Print.Johansson, Per-Olov, and Bengt Kristrà ¶m. Economics and Social Costs of Hydroelectric Power. Umeà ¥, Sweden: Department of Economics, Umeà ¥ University, 2018. Print.-, eds. Modern Cost-Benefit Analysis of Hydropower Conflicts. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2011.  -, eds. The Economics of Evaluating Water Projects: Hydroelectricity Versus Other Uses. Springer, 2012.

Organization Design 4370 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organization Design 4370 - Essay Example In a large organization like Chipotle, the communication channels need to be clear to avoid other informal channels that can cause anxiety and rumors across the organization. Communication should follow the line of command with immediate supervisors giving information to their subordinates. However, the hierarchy should be one that promotes faster transmission of information and ensures that each individual is attended to as appropriate (Daft 125). The 10 levels might therefore delay the dissemination of data and impede the realization of the business goals. Moreover, with the wide geographical coverage, the customers that are served by Chipotle have diverse cultural beliefs and practices. This implies that the business must recognize the different tastes and preferences and monitor closely variations in demands. In developing their products, differentiations must be made without losing the identity of their products (Daft 125). Moreover, before engaging the developments of the new products, Chipotle will have to conduct a market research and get the approval of the head office. This will result in increment in the quantity of sales and customer loyalty. In addition, the latitude in making decisions should also be well defined by the company. Chipotle management have to determine which decisions to be made by the regional managers and those to be made by the centralized management. Decisions that affect the regional stores only should be made by the regional managers while the decisions that affect more than one regional outlets should be left for the centralized managers. However, the central management should authorize some of the decisions that are left on the regional managers to ensure that they in line with the company vision and mission. On top, Chipotle will face the risk of integrating their processes and operations. The company has to ensure that the

Building of the Hoover Dam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Building of the Hoover Dam - Essay Example Based on the computation of FAR, two reasons why FAR declined will be explained. In relation to the case scenario of Hoover Dam and the accident that took place at the BP refinery back in 2005, effectiveness of civil law in terms of controlling the employers’ behaviour on health and safety will be tested. Explained under provision no. 30(1) of the Construction Design and Management Regulation 2007; construction companies should be careful when storing, transporting, and using explosives (legislation.gov.uk., 2010 a)2. Since the construction of Hoover Dam requires the workers to use explosives in creating hole in the canyon wall (Google Videos, 2010)3, construction companies should educate the workers regarding strategic ways on how to safely store, transport, and use explosive devices. When excavating grounds, construction companies are required to take safety measures by making sure that any portion of the excavated land or structure will not collapse, fall, trap, or bury innocent people within or outside the work environment as stated under the provision no. 31(1)(a)(b)(c) of the Construction Design and Management Regulation 2007 (legislation.gov.uk, 2010 b)4. For example: The construction of Hoover Dam requires deep excavations to create the base. With the use of power shovels, the head of the construction companies should closely monitor signs of potential accidents when the workers are digging the bottom of river mud (Construction Company.com, 2010)5. Health and safety guidelines are useful in terms of educating the workers on how they can safely dig the river mud without having its workers face the consequences of work-related accident. With this in mind, Hoover Dam workers should strictly follow health and safety guidelines not only with the use of explosives but also when excavating the grounds. To minimize unnecessary deaths and work-related accidents, you are

Fahad alhajri Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fahad alhajri - Research Paper Example One would even go further and state that the American government has chosen to keep the Native American areas of New Mexico at bay because it feels that they are more trouble than productive members of American society. This neglect has brought about a negative stigma within the populations where poverty in the state is most prevalent and this has led many of the individuals involved to give up hope of working towards the ending of their own poverty. The poor residents of New Mexico have little political voice and this may account for their being left out of the mainstream American way of life as they continue to sink deeper into poverty. In fact, the suicide rates among the residents of this state are actually quite high and this is often due to the loss of hope in improving their own lives. The political neglect of the people of this state is so great that their problems are not even highlighted during campaigns, and this has ensured that the area in which they live has become an u nappealing location for growing businesses to set up base in. the negative stigma caused by the poverty of the state has made it the least attractive place for those professionals, such as doctors and teachers, to work. This has created a situation where the state even lacks the most qualified professionals who would help to improve not only its health system but also the education of its children. The fact that people are discouraged from working in the area creates a dilemma, because with low quality of education and health care that results, there also develops the problem of high unemployment rates and coupled with low healthcare, the poverty is made even worse within the population. Considering the absence of public and private investment in the neglected areas of the state, better communication between the State and tribal governments, and more consideration to the requirements of the people of these areas, the poverty rate is estimated to upsurge (Kusel). While this may be a fact, it is also true that there are many underlying causes of the rampant poverty within the state and some of these shall be considered in greater detail. The causes of poverty in New Mexico have to be understood in order for decisions to be made on how to remedy them and bring the state into prosperity. Page-Reeves (33) states that New Mexico has the 13th highest rate of food insecurity in the United States and is related to the state of Mississippi as among the states with the highest poverty rates. It has further been seen that one in every four children within the state do not know where they will get their next meal, and this is a source of concern for the strategic planners of the state (Ramirez). Because of the arid nature of the state, there has developed the need for distributing food to the poor and this has led to the setting up of more than 600 emergency food distribution sites that serve more than forty thousand people every week. In some parts of the states, it has b een estimated that quite a large number of the population did not have the required meals in a day to remain healthy. Because of the chronic poverty which has been made worse because of the lack of opportunity within the state, an approximate of 17,000 people in New Mexico are homeless, and these, for instance, include five

Personal learning plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personal learning plan - Essay Example The learning plans should attempt to meet the course objectives. In essence, the plans should function as blueprints for the learning by allowing students to consider the personal learning needs and areas of improvement within the context of intellectual development. In addition, the plans guide students to individualize the learning process, promote a sense of self-directedness with specific outcomes, and enable the development of habits related to lifelong learning (Graham, 2013). The paper presents my personal learning plan by highlighting the steps to improve time management skill. My long-term goal is to improve in time management in order to excel in all subjects including mastering the Mathematics skill, which I have a tremendous weakness. The attainment improvement of the time management skill will offer me sufficient time to attend to the subjects I underperform such as Mathematics. As indicated in my personal learning profile, I have attempted to master the skills of time management by adhering to programs and schedules. As I advance in my career, I endeavor to improve on time management in order to devote a lot of time in the studies and do away with the Mathematics phobia, which has been a challenge in my studies. I realize that my weekly schedule indicates that I have approximately twenty hours to work on my assignments. Although the time is adequate, I endeavor to utilize substantial time in Mathematics as I seek to excel in all disciplines and proceed to my master degree. My time management goal will complement my strong values such as communication , team player, self-confidence, open-mindedness, and self-awareness. Time management is critical in the learning process. The highest achievers tend to manage their time exceptionally well. It is crucial to develop workable strategies for managing time in order to balance the inevitable conflicting demands of time for study, work, and leisure. Essentially, time

Tracing the development of painting Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tracing the development of painting - Term Paper Example The essay "Tracing the development of painting" discovers the development of painting. The chronological discussion of painting styles proves the difference in visual characteristics but with a number of similarities and are related to each other in some way or other. This painting style was originated around 1600s and influenced the following centuries. Besides, this form of painting style is rich and deep in color, and the intense usage of light and shadow. The exponents of Baroque style made use of the most exact moment or the dramatic point of events arouse emotionality in the minds of viewers. One of the best examples for Baroque as a painting style is The Deposition by Caravaggio. Neoclassicism dominated the European art from 18th century to 19th century. Neoclassicism was basically a reaction against Rococo style in European Art. As a painting style, Neoclassicism gave due importance to Roman and Greek art. Its influence is not limited to the sphere of painting, but it extends to other forms of art like literature and architecture. One of the best examples for Neoclassicism as a painting style is The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David. Realism originated in Europe, especially in France, in 1850s. Besides, it was a movement against Romanticism. Realism was totally against the emotionalism projected by Romanticism, and was in favor of the ideology of Objective Realism. So, truth and accuracy were the fundamental principles of Realism in painting. In short, realism gave due importance.... Impressionism: Impressionism originated in Paris, as an Art movement in 19th century. The name Impressionism is originated from Claude Monet’s art work, namely ‘Impression, Sunrise’. The usage of thin brushstrokes, perfect lighting, usage of ordinary subjects, and strange visual angles are some of its main characteristics. One of the best examples for Impressionism is The Abduction of Egypt by Shwidkiy Andrey (see appendix -4). Post-Impressionism: Post-Impressionism was developed in France during 1880s. Roger Fry, the renowned British Art critic was behind the creation of the term Post-Impressionism. Post-Impressionism was an extension of Impressionism, but rejected the limitations of Impressionism. The exponents of Post-Impressionism gave more importance to geometric forms. The usage of unnatural color in paintings is one of the most important features of Post-Impressionism. One of the best examples for Post-Impressionism is Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh (See ap pendix – 5). Cubism: Cubism transformed the scenario of painting in Europe and deeply influenced other forms of art like sculpture and music. The basic element of Cubism is to break down the object, analyze it, and to re- assemble the same. This helps the painter to present the art work with difference in subject matter. The usage of random angles is the most important aspect of cubism. One of the best examples for Cubism is Guernica by Pablo Picasso (see appendix-7). Geometric abstraction: Geometric abstraction is based on abstract art. Besides, it is based on non-objective and two dimensional models. It rejects exaggeration and illusionistic modes of painting and makes use of canvas as

Personal learning plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personal learning plan - Essay Example The learning plans should attempt to meet the course objectives. In essence, the plans should function as blueprints for the learning by allowing students to consider the personal learning needs and areas of improvement within the context of intellectual development. In addition, the plans guide students to individualize the learning process, promote a sense of self-directedness with specific outcomes, and enable the development of habits related to lifelong learning (Graham, 2013). The paper presents my personal learning plan by highlighting the steps to improve time management skill. My long-term goal is to improve in time management in order to excel in all subjects including mastering the Mathematics skill, which I have a tremendous weakness. The attainment improvement of the time management skill will offer me sufficient time to attend to the subjects I underperform such as Mathematics. As indicated in my personal learning profile, I have attempted to master the skills of time management by adhering to programs and schedules. As I advance in my career, I endeavor to improve on time management in order to devote a lot of time in the studies and do away with the Mathematics phobia, which has been a challenge in my studies. I realize that my weekly schedule indicates that I have approximately twenty hours to work on my assignments. Although the time is adequate, I endeavor to utilize substantial time in Mathematics as I seek to excel in all disciplines and proceed to my master degree. My time management goal will complement my strong values such as communication , team player, self-confidence, open-mindedness, and self-awareness. Time management is critical in the learning process. The highest achievers tend to manage their time exceptionally well. It is crucial to develop workable strategies for managing time in order to balance the inevitable conflicting demands of time for study, work, and leisure. Essentially, time

Recruit, select and induct staff Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Recruit, select and induct staff - Essay Example The immediate task of the receptionist would be to answer phone calls, deposit and receive checks. The receptionist will be responsible for handling all the immediate task related to the day to day meetings and would also require to disseminate information to an entire department. Interview Rounds The interviewing questions would be categorized into two types; job related and non job related. There would be two interviewing rounds; Human Resource (HR) and technical round. The HR round would be conducted by the Human Resource manager that would focus on non job related questions and the technical rounds would be conducted by the senior managers of the organization, who are proficient in the knowledge of the subject related to the post being offered to the candidate (Ashton and Morton, 2005). (2) Interviewing Questions: Job & Non Job Related Job Related Non Job Related Why have you applied for this position? What is your age? What is your qualification and how it is related to the job? What is your religion, nationality, marital status? Why would you want to leave your previous organization? Do you have a physical disability? What interests you most about this position? Do you have any membership any organization or political membership? Why do you consider yourself suitable for this job position? (3) Interview Guide Basic Education Graduate in Business Administration Work history Minimum experience of 2 years Communication Skills Must have a soothing voice along with fluency in English Leadership Skills Any kind of leadership activity would be an added advantage Activity 4: Recruitment Schedule (1) Recruitment Process The curriculum vitae (CV) would be gathered from the internet portal of the recruiting agency, official website of the company and referral of employees The CV would be sorted after tallying the requirements of the job post with the qualification and experience After sorting out the curriculum vitae, the selected candidates would be called for a te lephonic round and written round The written round will constitute of aptitude test, which will be divided into numerical and non numerical segment (Bennett, 2002). The selective candidates performing well in these rounds would be proceeded for the human resource and technical round The candidates passing these rounds would be selected for the job position The selected candidates would be provided the required training and an induction program prior would be conducted before assigning them any task. (2) Timetable for Recruitment Process Task Handling Manager Time Frame Collection & sorting of CV HR manager 01/09/2013 to 7/09/2013 Telephonic interview & written round Assistant Manager of HR department 07/09/2013 to 08/09/2013 Invigilating the written round HR manager 09/09/2013 Human Resource round HR manager 09/09/2013 Technical Round Senior managers of the HR departments 10/09/2013 to 12/09/2013 Training, Development & Induction HR manager and respected managers of the department 1 5/09/2013 to 23/092013 Activity 5: Letter of Offer

Body-Adapted Wearable Electronics Essay Example for Free

Body-Adapted Wearable Electronics Essay The field of body-adapted electronics has been around for quite some time. People have been wearing calculator watches, mobile phones, music players, ear phones and the like for many years now. I was intrigued by the new ideas that have developed within the last few years in the way of health monitoring devices. There is a wristband available for you to monitor your exercise, health, behavior, and blood pressure. It helps you to understand your exercise and sleep patterns. Also out there for you to detect your blood pressure are ear buds. Some of the health monitoring devices are able to be embedded under your skin or worn as a tiny patch under clothing. The sensors provide feedback for you or your doctor to tract your vital statistics. The vital measures include heart rate, muscle tone, body temperature, sweat, motion and the amount of oxygen in your system. The environmental measures include location, illumination, ambient temperature, humidity, toxicity. A body posture detection sensor is worn to determine whether a person is exercising or performing a sport correctly. Along with this device, another can provide calculations of how many calories you have consumed, or your average speed and distance. This allows you to get the best performance in what you are attempting. For those suffering chronic disease or pain management, their doctor will be able to receive real-time information about the person’s health, so as to be able to prescribe medications properly. Alerts systems can be applied for drivers on the road to inform them of dozing off at the wheel. Fire-fighters have a polo shirt with sensors that collects their vital signs, so supervisors will know when to get them out of a disastrous situation. The Eye Tap, which is worn in front of the eye, or Smartglasses are for wearers to use as a camera or to view computer imagery, is being explored as a tool for people with visual disabilities to have the information directed  to parts of their retina that does not function well. Google Glass has been using them since 2013 in operating rooms, ambulances, trauma helicopters, doctors’ offices, and also for the visually impaired on public transportation. It is also being used in several countries during operations, to broadcast the actual surgery to other locations, and on TV, for many doctors to be able to watch how the procedure is being performed. In Australia, the Small World Social Breastfeeding Support Project created the first hands-free breastfeeding application for new mothers. Wearing the Google Glass, the mothers call a consultant to have any questions they might have, answered. In a few months, 100% of the mothers were breastfeeding with confidence. Several more emerging technologies are currently being developed. A brain-computer interface, for people with disabilities who can type by controlling their brainwaves, and eventually being able to operate wheelchairs using only their thoughts. The Haptic shoe soles, using sense of touch feedback and GPS technology, these soles will give the blind wearer vibrations to tell them when to turn or lift their feet via a voice-programmed app that reads GPS maps planned routes. The soles have sensors to let the wearer know when to stop, and read the walkers gestures, example, two taps means â€Å"take me home.† All of these new products are a great advantage for the medical, health, and disability fields. Along with them goes the disadvantages, until everything can be worked out. The trials that are necessary in order to make sure the products are fit for use is the biggest hurdle. Sensors miss firing; wrong data being sent and received; expertise needed around the eyes; missed directions for the blind walkers; battery-life needing to be extended; the cost of research and development and of purchase; and the right to privacy are all issues that need to be addressed. Wrong data REFERENCES: Body-Adapted Wearable Electronic by Dysheanna Franklin on Prezi http://prezi.com Interview: What’s the future for wearable technology? http:// forumblog.org ITEA3 Improving the quality of everyday life through wearable computers http://itea3.org Top 10 emerging technologies for 2014 http://forumblog.org Wearable computer-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wilipedia.org

Boots ltd Current strategic position

Boots ltd Current strategic position Management Summary Introduction This report will examine findings and analyse Boots current strategic position in the industry. It will analyse whether or not the new IT system has had any impact in the organisation efficiency and financial wise. Here I will discuss the formation of one of the most biggest pharmaceutical and cosmetic company in Europe. Boots is one of the largest cosmetic high street and online retailer in the country, and in recently in continental Europe. It was founded by John Boot in 1849 when Mr Boot opened an herbalist shop in Nottingham. Boots as a company was formed in 1883 and they appointed their first pharmacist a year after. They opened their first flagship store in Nottingham in 1892. Since then it has been one of the most popular place to go get cosmetics and medicine. The companys chemists were taken over by UniChem Plc in 1991 and they started their global brand recognition by opening their first Boots store in Republic of Ireland in Dublin in 1996. Since the mid 1990s Boots faced heavy competition from many sectors of the retail industry. They had to restructure their brand in order to counter attack the competition it faced. In July 2006, Boots merged with their biggest rival Alliance UniChem. By announcing this deal, this made Boots the largest distributor in pharmaceutical and healthcare products. This also gave them continental recognition as UniChem was one of the largest pharmaceutical players in continental Europe. Like Wal-Mart bought Asda but they are known as Wal-Mart in America and Asda in Europe, Boots is known as Boots in England but UniChem in Europe. Alliance UniChem and the Boots merger allowed these two companies become the biggest pharmaceutical and cosmetic dealers in Europe, reaching out to more and more people, thus making a huge profit in the process. It elevated both companies to higher grounds and is still thriving to be more successful. Boots have a website setup for the American market, but do not sell online, and many of their products are only sold via department stores and pharmacies in America, but they do not have outlets for the average customer to come and look around. In 1997, Boots formed a loyalty card scheme, called the Advantage Card, a card which customers carry, get points when they purchase products and then reward them with special offers. This also allowed the company to find out the buying habits, and find out what customers normally would buy and then send them special offers regarding these in order to bring them back into the store and spend more. They estimated that they would sign up eight million customers, but by December 1998 they went over this estimate by signing up over ten million customers to the Advantage Card scheme, and by this their estimate of the four percent sales growth actually succeeded. The cost of the scheme was  £25 million therefore the sales growth was an important part of this scheme. The IT system was a huge part of the organisations card scheme. Boots is a long-established IBM customer, but they were researching other companies in regards to their new customer analysis system before deciding to stick with IBM. The reason they went for the IBM solution was because they offered the complete package as well as their own technical support teams and experience. This would obviously save them time due to the fact they do not need to train up a new person to train more people therefore the ones that create this will be able to train the Boots employees into how to use the IT system. The database project started in spring 1997, 6 months before the card launch. This is because the company would need to make sure the database is right before they can officially launch the cards otherwise there would be a system overload, or even a backlog which would cost a lot of money, this would also enable the structure being right from the start. The size of the database eventually went up to 1.6 TB (terabytes) which held more than 2 million card holder details and some non card holder buyer behaviours in order to contrast between the two buying behaviours. The analyst team at Boots analyse these customer buying behaviours, thus finding out what type of products intrigue the card holders, as well as the non card holders. By doing this, they can create a report for the marketing team, and tell them what can be done to entice non card holders to join the Advantage Card scheme. They can also find out what products are selling the most between the two categories of buyers, and find out new ways to sell their products to the four groups of promotion buyers, the deal seekers (only seek promotion deals), stock pilers (who buy in bulk when the items in promotion then dont bother coming back when they are not), the loyalists (the ones that buy the products a little more when they are on promotion then revert back to their normal buying habits) and the new market (customers that buy the product when they are on promotion and then continue buying the products when they arent. This report will now analyse the Boots strategic position by evaluating using different methods. Strategic Evaluation Swot Analysis Using Swot Analysis, I will now analyse the organisations current position. Strengths Boots is a powerful pharmaceutical and cosmetic retail brand. It has a reputation of having great deals compared to other stores, and has a wide range of products in store. It has grown substantially from being a one-store shop in a city to being a continental brand (by merging with Europes biggest cosmetic and pharmaceutical brand Alliance UniChem). By merging, the company has become the biggest cosmetic brand in Europe, and has the entire infrastructure in place to make it a successful and big brand. The company has a good IT system which was created and run by IBM which is one of the worlds biggest IT company in the world, and uses its IT infrastructure to analyse what products are being sold the most, the most popular and customers buying behaviour, using the loyalty card scheme the backbone of this. By doing this, the analyst team at Boots use this information to give these loyal shoppers deals and it therefore eventually makes profit. The company uses its vast financial profits to invest time and money in training people and retaining a development team. By doing this they have people who know what they are doing, therefore have an advantage over other brands who do not consistently train and invest in their employees. The companys online shopping is a great help to people who cannot go to the store because of their disability/being old. Their online prescription feature allows the user to order their prescription drugs online and delivered to them. This reaches out to more people, and especially to those with disability who cannot go to their local pharmacy, and get it delivered to their door the next working day. Weaknesses Though Boots is one of the biggest brands in UK and Europe, it still is not Global like some of the companys rivals. The system that is in place could cause error hen external influences such as recession affects shoppers. It may set the trends of customers and forecasts but not necessarily forecast the trend for recession and other external influences. Like most other companies, the year of 2009, which was mostly hit by recession and VAT went down to 15% to help people with this downfall, affected businesses. Their loyalty card system is showing the customer buyer behaviour, but is it really taking into account the recession period? People are buying less and less and therefore targeting customers that used to buy these products, and offering them deals that they may not buy due to the recession, will adversely affect them, the buyer and the company. Other external factors that contribute to their weaknesses are interest rates and inflation. By this going up each year, it makes the product prices go up also. This affects the trend in buying. Will people buy the same product they bought cheaper the year before? The loyalty card scheme may help towards this problem, but will casual buyers end up buying it here or go and buy it from a pound shop. In terms of company image, Boots are well known only in UK, whereas the company uses a different name in Europe due to Boots not being an universal word and Alliance is a universal word in Europe and UniChem is the name of the company they merged with, thus giving them profits but not actual name recognition. The company have recently moved their brand to the USA. The company is also known as Alliance Boots, and their pharmacy over there is called The DrugStore. They do not have shops in USA, but sell their products in department stores or normal drug stores/pharmacies. But because their American website does not allow online shopping, only advertising the brand, and they do not have any outlets in America, they are missing out on huge profits as America are one of the highest prescription drug users in the world. It may be good distribution but making outlets will sell more. If the company was to merge with an American pharmacy/cosmetic/pharmaceutical company, they could slowly intr oduce their brand to the American market and make it global. The IT system needs to be enhanced so it can cope with this expansion. The brand in the UK also only have shops in high streets, maybe making more stores like Tesco have with their Tesco Express branches, they can reach out to more people. Opportunities Boots should take the opportunity of merging with an American company so that they can break the American market. Also to do this same thing for Asia they can make their brand a Global brand. In 1997 they introduced Boots in New Zealand, but the store closed down in the same year due to slow sales. If an opportunity of merger for good companies in Asia and America come in, Boots could do well with this, that way they can focus their intentions of getting brand recognition in these markets where they could see their profits go above the scale. Boots are just a trade and distributor in America, this means they selling in department stores and pharmacies, but they do not have a store out there to show the market what the company actually does. New locations offer Boots opportunities to exploit the market development. Threats Being number one means that you are a target for competition, locally and globally. This means more and more companies will be competitively putting their prices down to compete with big companies, thus getting more and more people to shop with them rather than the big companies. The stores loyalty card scheme is helping this cause, getting more and more customers to shop with Boots so that they can be rewarded. By being a global retailer, if they expand their operations to the USA and further, means they are exposed to political problems in the country they do their business in. Political downfall and economy downfall means fewer shoppers, and they need to tackle this problem to avoid loss of profits. The cost of producing many products has fallen because of lower manufacturing costs, due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of the world. This has lead to more and more price competition between rivals, therefore resulting in price deflation. This is a threat because rivals are finding more and more ways to entice customers to shop with them rather than their competitor. Supermarkets in particular will name their rivals in advertisements, stating they are cheaper than them. Boots on the other hand do not tend to name their competitor, rather focusing on their own name recognition to sell their products, and using their loyalty card scheme to reward their loyal customers, whilst the casual customers do not bother signing up to the loyalty card scheme and tend to shop only when there are promotions in store as the loyalty card offers do not appeal to them. Their direct competition in terms of cosmetics AND pharmaceutical products are Superdrug. Superdrug sell from both categories, but Superdrug does not seem to carry such a large range as does Boots, but are slightly cheaper. Therefore when it comes to recession, Superdrug will tend to sell more due to them selling cheaper. When recession is over, will customer buying behaviour change? There is a chance of that, un less they are so used to buying cheap products it may change slightly. Superdrug have less variety than Boots, therefore Boots tend to sell more of the products that the average customer cannot buy in Superdrug. Price is normally higher on these due to the company knowing their competitor not selling the same product. Porters Five Forces Model Now I will use Porters Five Forces model for competitive analysis of the companys strategic position. The five forces allow the marketer to compare a competitive environment. Existing Competitors The main existing competitor is Superdrug in terms of what gets sold in Boots. This is because Superdrug sells what Boots sell, but has less variety but is cheaper. Customers tend to shop at stores that are cheaper, but because of Boots selling more variety it counter attacks this problem. It also allows the customers to choose between the brands, which gives healthy competition for both, which is good for the company and customers, as it gives them new ways of ousting the competitor. Superdrug does not have a loyalty scheme, thus eliminating the need for a good IT system. Boots have an advantage over this as their IT system was created and developed by IBM, and they can monitor activities using their IT system, and this is a huge bonus for them. Other competitors are supermarkets and smaller stores, such as Asda and Tesco. Asda and Tesco do not have pharmacy facilities, but they sell cosmetic goods, which are most of the time are on offers. This tends to leash the customer to their store, but one main disadvantage of them is that they do not tend to sell varieties of these products. They may have their own loyalty cards, but people who tend to shop more and more on cosmetic products tend make use of their Boots Advantage card. Threats of New Entrants